Previous posts on statistics have covered variance and standard of deviation (See my post of Feb. 18, 2011: variance; and Feb. 21, 2011: standard deviation.). Statistical analysts can take the calculations of dispersion one step farther. When they divide the standard deviation of a set of data by the average…
Once my recent post was written about metrics of Anheuser-Busch InBev, I thirsted for more on that legal department and its management practices. Mostly due to the columns Sabine Chalmers, the combined company’s top lawyer, has written, there were ample quaffs. In this post I have poured together the references…
To appreciate industry-level benchmarks, compare a few metrics for the law departments of Google and Anheuser-Busch InBev that appear in Practical Law’s February and March 2011 issues (both at page 80). For Kent Walker of Google, more than 230 lawyers support $23.7 billion in revenue plus about 22,000 employees, from…
Everything influences a law department’s workload, from clients to cases, from resources to roles, structure to software, time tracking to training (See my post of May 19, 2009: descriptive metrics for legal department workloads; and May 26, 2007: productivity metrics increase in the face of workload.). Too many things influence…
The latest issue of Of Counsel, March 2011 at 11, describes my innovative approach to law department benchmarks. (To take part, click on the icon upper right.) It also explains the three most important benchmarks, and how law firms can benefit from familiarity with corporate benchmarks. If you would like…
A large portion of what in-house lawyers cope with, unravel, interpret and apply circles around regulations promulgated by the federal government. The Economist, March 19, 2011 at 5 says that “Some 1,000 pages of federal regulations were added each year Mr. Bush was in office. A quarter million Americans have…
The Economist, March 19, 2011 at 69, writes that the European Union has taken a long step toward the creation of a single European patent. If approved by the European Parliament, the new regime would dispense with separate validation in different nations (with attendant translation and other costs) and that…
Federal regulations “already fill 150,000 pages of fine-print text and cost Americans $1.7 trillion a year.” This claim, controversial at the least regarding the cost, appears in Met. Corp. Counsel, March 2011 at 5, from Thomas Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. If someone can come…
Mark Harris of Axiom remarked at the recent Georgetown Law Center conference that the Fortune 200 control 85 percent of the $100 billion legal market in the United States. The 200 largest US law firms, he then added, have revenue of about $85 billion. If both those statements are even…
At one time, the term “consigliore” embodied for lawyers the notion of the completely trusted confidante and advisor. The term doesn’t show up much these days (See my post of Aug. 28, 2005: common desire to be seen as a consigliore.). Perhaps it has been elbowed aside by “trusted legal…